Sedimentary response to Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum carbon release: A model-data comparison
- 1Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
- 2School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK
- 3Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Abstract
Possible sources of carbon that may have caused global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary are constrained using an intermediate complexity Earth-system model configured with early Eocene paleogeography. We find that 6800 Pg C (δ13C of –22‰) is the smallest pulse modeled here to reasonably reproduce observations of the extent of seafloor CaCO3 dissolution. This pulse could not have been solely the result of methane hydrate destabilization, suggesting that additional sources of CO2 such as volcanic CO2, the oxidation of sedimentary organic carbon, or thermogenic methane must also have contributed. Observed contrasts in dissolution intensity between Atlantic and Pacific sites are reproduced in the model by reducing bioturbation in the Atlantic during the event, simulating a potential consequence of the spread of low-oxygen bottom waters.
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- Received 1 October 2007.
- Revision received 17 December 2007.
- Accepted 19 December 2007.
- © 2008 Geological Society of America
